


Distance

by wckdrachel (remuses)



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: M/M, Post - The Death Cure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-19 06:39:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1459660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remuses/pseuds/wckdrachel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Brenda kisses Thomas, she leaves him alone. And, as always, whenever Thomas is alone, Minho finds him. In this particular circumstance, he finds him alone with memories Thomas is hellbent on forgetting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distance

Thomas was still perched on the cliff long after the sky’s purple-orange dissolved into total blackness. It was hard to make anything out in the dark with only the stars blanketing over him. However, the darkness made it easier to focus on the sounds that surrounded him. The ocean breeze, the waves that lapped against the shore, the leaves that were rustling against the rocky ground around him. The steady footsteps that were coming up behind him. 

Hugging his knees closer to his chest, and still staring out into the distance where his thoughts were wondering off to, he murmured, “Minho.” 

"Okay," Minho said with slightly stunned voice. "I’ll try and pretend that you knowing what my footsteps sound like is natural."

He didn’t look up at the boy, but a weak smile appeared on Thomas’ face. Ignoring Minho’s quip, he asked, “How are things going back there?”

He heard a sigh, followed by the sarcastic tone he has learned to find comfort in. “It’s been a few hours and no one has threatened my life yet, so I’d say things are going better than I expected.”

Thomas laughed humorlessly. “Good that.”

He felt Minho sit next to him, letting his legs dangle off the edge of the cliff as he leaned back on his arms. Minutes that felt like hours passed in total silence until Minho spoke up. “Saw Brenda come up here…Anything I need to know about?” 

Although Thomas was still looking ahead, he could practically hear the signature smirk in Minho’s voice. The kind of smirk he had when he masked his exhaustion and stress with his lighthearted remarks. 

Thomas caught himself unconsciously touching his lips and withdrew his hand. He thought of Brenda and how he couldn’t quite place if anything that happened hours ago did mean enough for someone to know about it. He couldn’t even decide if it meant anything enough for himself to remember it. Remember it in a certain way that he couldn’t at this moment. 

"No, nothing important," Thomas replied. Truthfully, to his surprise. 

Minho nodded and edged closer to him, their elbows now touching. “I could get used to this.”

"Used to what?"

"Rest. Quiet. You know, peace and all that klunk," Minho said with a tone of finality. But then he added, "Getting stuck with you all the shucking time."

Thomas rolled his eyes, and for the first time in hours, looked at his friend. 

Minho’s eyes were tried and were cradled with dark lines underneath them. There was grime all over his tired face and cuts that still looked far from healing, but, there was still a trace of his grin - although faint and worn out. 

"I’d like to that you could get used to being stuck with me, because I don’t think that’ll change in the near future," Thomas quipped. 

Minho nudged him playfully in the shoulder. Thomas expected another mocking remark from Minho, but the latter just sighed in relief and said, “Good.”

Thomas raised his eyebrows at him. “Good?”

Minho nodded, now leaning closer to Thomas more than usual.

Thomas didn’t know what was happening right now, but he was already doing his share in closing the space between them, and it felt too late to consider that this should feel wrong. Or at least to ponder on why it didn’t feel wrong at all.  

"Yeah," Minho muttered. " _Good._ "

And before they could quite process what happened from there to here, Minho’s lips were on Thomas’.

Thomas felt his heart lurch, but it was ignored and overshadowed by the feel on Minho gripping him tight, pulling him closer into the kiss. As Minho sighed against his mouth, Thomas felt out of breath as he dizzily marveled at how his mouth suddenly felt relieved. As if he has been waiting for this. As if he’s been cut off from a supply he’s grown dependent on. As if the losses he’s been through could be replaced by this one gesture. 

Losses. 

Alby.

Chuck.

Teresa.

_Newt._

Trembling, he tore himself away from Minho, gasping for more than air. He took one look at Minho’s stunned, but otherwise unreadable, face, and looked away before burying his head in his shaking hands. “I- I can’t do this.”

"Yeah," Minho replied, trying to find ease in his voice again. "Sorry," he continued. "Things got a bit shucked for a second there."

But that wasn’t the problem. Minho wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that Thomas was in a state so irreparable that when he kissed Minho, all he could taste, after the euphoria, were memories of what he did. That when he gave into the grasp of the person who trusts him more than himself, he felt like everything he was hiding could suddenly be deciphered with Minho’s touch. That when he felt the felt even the tiniest spark of relief, he was immediately reminded that he had no right to feel any trace of that for the rest of his life. 

"I lied," Thomas blurted out suddenly. "When you asked if there was something you should know about." Feeling his rib cage cave into him as he tried to calm down, he tried to map out his thoughts.

Breathing heavily, he almost didn’t notice Minho’s hand resting on his.

"Hey there, shank," he muttered lightly, but Thomas could hear the anxiety building up in his voice. "Calm down. What exactly do I need to know?"

_Newt._

Thomas shook his head furiously, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Shuck, I can’t…” 

Minho’s face grew even more concerned, panic starting to show in his weary eyes. “Thomas,” he tried to say firmly. “Thomas, what is it?”

Thomas looked up at him slowly, his chest still heaving with rapid breaths. He could feel his eyes, stinging with the threat of tears. “I…I can’t…” he repeated, his voice cracking at every syllable.

With a sigh, Minho put an arm around Thomas to steady him, and muttered, “Then I don’t need to know. I don’t.” Thomas answered with a doubtful look. Minho took a deep breath and said, “Really. I don’t.”

Thomas swallowed hard and nodded, burying his face once more in his hands with his elbows propped up on his knees. Minho kept his arm around him, rubbing his back.

They sit like that for a while, until Thomas finally sat upright, looking at Minho apologetically. “Shuck…I’m…I’m sorry.”

Minho smiled sadly. “It’s okay, I get it. Besides, I’ve had worst reactions to my kissing.”

Despite himself, Thomas smirked at the quip, although it hurt him to. As if every smile felt unfair after everything that happened. “Shank.”

Minho chuckled, although it sounded like it’s taking him a lot to do so. “Really, though,” he assured. “It’s okay.”

“I just don’t think I can do anything beyond surviving right now,” he muttered, looking at the ground. “Like anything more than that will suffocate me.”

“Am I included in that ‘ _anything_ ’?” Minho asked, looking at Thomas intently.

_You’re everything,_ Thomas silently corrected, stunning himself by the thought. But he pushed it out of his head immediately and, instead, said, “I guess.”

“Oh,” Minho said, a tinge of disappointment evident in his voice as he tightened his grip on Thomas’ hand. But before Thomas could apologize, Minho sighed and said, “Well, hey, that’s good. You deserve a break from all this klunk. Especially from me. Even if it’s just for a while.”

“Thanks, Minho,” was all Thomas could say without letting his resistance falter. The resistance keeping him from grabbing Minho and kissing him again.

Minho nodded and, with one final squeeze of Thomas’ hand, let go. “I’m not promising that I’ll leave you alone, but I’ll keep distance. For a while,” he added again. Then he cupped Thomas’ face lightly, and kissed him on the forehead.

Thomas’ heart sank from how much he wanted Minho to stay here with him. Like this. For a longer while. But he knew that he needed space. A lot of it.

“I’ll keep my distance,” Minho repeated, more to himself than to Thomas, as if he needed to convince himself to do so.

Minho stood up, touching Thomas’ shoulder comfortingly, and was just about to walk away when Thomas turned around. “Hey, Minho?”

Facing him, Minho raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Not too much distance.”

Minho grinned, and this time, it reached his eyes. He gave Thomas a nod. “Got it, Thomas.”

And with that, he turned around and walked away, leaving Thomas alone again. Alone with the memories that forced him to ignore the fact that he never wanted an inch of distance from Minho at all.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find this at my tumblr as well: http://queerminho.tumblr.com/post/80783575775/distance


End file.
